The full moon shone in the sky, dusty lighting falling and cascading over Ponyville's larger buildings, shadows clumping together in the dark street corners. They hung over the ajacent walls, shifting ever so slightly as a window opened to allow the crisp autumn air into their homes, or breeze running over the grass, making the shadows ripple like inky black water.
Tawny eyes gleamed in the moonlight shadows shielding them slightly, dulling their bright glow. Their owner slunk stealthily through the dim boulevard followed by two other dragons, his lackeys, the three pairs of wings unfurling as the dragons took to the air, silently peeling through the night sky with a red-orange streak of scales followed suit by both brown and purple.
He slowed his pace slightly as he approached the city square, a long path of well worn grass circling the quaint building formed of half tree, half library. An owl looked at him curiously, but he shone his glistening white canines streaked with dried blood, the bird stiffly looking away before ducking into the house segment of the edifice, hooting with fear as it assumedly tried to awake its owners.
Snarling, he decided to do away with his work quickly before his plans had the opportunity to be soiled. Flying into a marginally large open window, he flickered his ebony tongue out, tasting the air. Second room to the right, it answered swiftly. He ran on all fours, claws quietly scraping against the wooden floor, chips sent flying as he raced.
"Owlowiscious," a feminine voice cried, followed by tumbling sounds that sounded suspiciously like books falling to their doom. "What is it now?"
He cursed quietly, pricking his ears for the soft sound of snores. They were, thankfully, ongoing. He nodded to the two weaker dragons, glaring at them slightly as they hurried to distract the mare and the owl.
Flying to the main library, they began throwng down books, ripping pages loudly. They scratched their claws against the curtains and tapestry, chewing off book covers with hungry gusto, sending plates falling to the floor as they entered the kitchen, swiching tails around. Hoofsteps echoed down the hall, and he ducked into the room quickly, shutting the door behind him, making sure she didn't get a glimpse of his scar-ridden tail.
"Hey," Twilight shreiked, horn flowing as she attempted to remove one of the dragons from her prized books. "Get away from there!" Her horn flared with anger as she soon turned to face the other dragon, a large tan Swallow Winger, spiked end to his tail swinging towards her, attempting to punch her lights out.
She stopped it mid-swing, sendng it flying back towards its owner, ricocheting off his thick shield of scaled hide. Large arms wrapped around her, claws digging into her lavender pelt.
Panicking, she cast a teleportation spell, disappearing with a bright flash of light. Due to being disoriented, the spell backfired, only carrying her a small ways behind the dragon.
The Night Wing turned, eyes flashing with undeterred anger, hissing violently, eyes bloodshot from the purple magicked light.
Though slightly drained, the unicorn was soon to dodge the heafty dragon launching towards her, hooves clipping the the floor loudly as she cantered swiftly to the other side of the room, almost bypassing the snap of the Swallow Winger's jaws, though they clamped on her mane. Crying out in surprise and pain, she panted as they snarled at her, her tangled hair pulling her upwards.
A crash came from upstairs. Spike, she thought, stomach drenched in dread. Her horn fizzled, sweat pouring from her face as she squirmed, eyes wide and frightened. Her hooves hung lifelessly as tears dripped from her eyes. "Spike," she mewled, voice soft and afraid. A clicking groan came from his room, door creaking open. Spike hung, limp in the larger dragon's jaw. A small strip of skin was the only thing seperating him from the sharp bite of the grown dragon.
His eyes swivelled toward her own, purple irises sparkling with fear. "It's okay, Spike," she soothed, voice cracking as she held back her sobs. "They didn't hurt me."
This was obviously a lie. She tried not to let the pain seep into her face, but her mouth pinched at the corners, and small clumps of hair fell as she dangled in the air. The red dragon glared at her, green eyes simmering with anger as he exited, ripping the door off its hinges with minimal effort. He left, wings uncurling and took off, grass waving as he sped off. She was thrown down, tripping over her own hooves to race after him.
"SPIKE!" she screamed, ponies emerging from their deep slumber to see why she cried out. Mr Cake's eyes widened frightenedly, and he quickly ushered his two foals back inside, Mrs. Cake following suit, ducking out of the way as the dragon dove down to the citizens of Ponyville. Twilight sobbed as she desperately made an effort to follow the swiftly fading pack of dragons.
Tears dried upon her lavender pelt, her heart breaking as the soft sounds of the young dragon's mewling cries of sadness carried to her pined ears along the breeze.
"SPIKE!"